What Grammar Says About Rape

Before we begin, a quick grammar lesson is due. Google for ‘passive voice’ and the very first hit defines it like this:

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

And adds this:

“Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made. In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).”

So, saying “Draupadi stole Bheema’s apple” blames Draupadi for stealing, while saying “Bheema’s apple was stolen by Draupadi” focuses on the fact that the apple was stolen. Now if you drop Draupadi from the second sentence, “Bheema’s apple was stolen” conveys the idea that this terrible thing happened to Bheema but doesn’t blame anyone! Or if I use an even worse and a grammatically dodgy form of passive voice: “Bheema had his apple stolen” squarely dumps the responsibility of what happened on Bheema’s head!

Now that you are equipped with the power of grammar, here is a snapshot of Google results for the recent assaults in Gurgaon and Manipal:

Let’s not even start with the ‘allegedly’ business! Anyway, here is another general snapshot of recent articles:

Now we know newspapers, especially the online variety, need eye-catching headlines. Keeping this in mind we are going to try rewriting the headlines in an active voice so the reader (whilst intrigued –> eager to click on news link –> amazed –> quick to post link on facebook & twitter –> all 500 friends/followers amazed –> link goes viral with 1,000,000,000 hits) does not get the impression that rape just happens to people in a “Girl soaked to skin while motorbiking in the rain” kind of way.

How is this for eye-catching or why is this any less eye-catching?

Passive

Comments from retro news desk

Active

1

Two women gang-raped in moving car in Gurgaon

Women are the ‘weaker sex’ because it is always so easy for 7 men to overpower 2 women

Five men gang-rape in moving car in Gurgaon

2

2 women raped during ride home from pub in Gurgaon

Oh god! How do I emphasise the point that the girls went to a pub?

Cab-drivers abduct and rape 2 passengers in Gurgaon

3

Gurgaon: two women raped for over two hours in moving cab

Over 2 hours? I think this must be censored on the grounds that it will result in unrealistic expectations in our women!

Gurgaon: 2 men rape for over two hours in moving cab

4

Manipal: 22-year-old medical student allegedly gang-raped

My allegedly makes more sense than your allegedly!

Manipal: 3 men allegedly gang-rape student

5

Medical student raped in Manipal

This student was returning from the library btw. Not pub. So we won’t mention it. We will mention that it was late though while failing to mention that in a university town, the streets are crowded 24×7

Three men rape a student in Manipal

6

Medical student abducted, raped at Manipal

3:1? Did these wimps never win fights in school or what? Losers!

Three men abduct and rape in Manipal

7

Woman offered lift on bike, raped

Look at that first sentence under the headline! Why miss an excellent opportunity to lecture to dumb idiots (i.e. all women) on the dangers of coming out of the purdah!

Man abducts friend on bike, rapes

8

University student raped in own house

We suddenly care about being too sensationalist. Rape can be a threat to mortality, but then we would have to use the word murder!

Attempt to murder university student in own house

9

Minor girl gang-raped in moving car

Don’t mention she is 17 in the second line, that makes her almost close to the legal age for rape! Writing about attackers saves us so much reporting. We can just call them ‘people, youths’.

Blame the victim or at least make the act the focus but absolve the perpetrators from all blame

Glorify the act

With many not-so-subtle references, bring in the She was Out Late bit.

Imply women are weak although, in every single instance above, they are actually out-numbered! How many men do you know who can win a fight with 1:3 ratios? (also, increased rape reporting is fine but notice how it is always female victims (and male perpetuators) until it is completely drilled into your head that only women are raped (including girl-toddlers) and only men rape which is also NOT true. Other cases are just not reported in our media, is all)

By stating completely irrelevant things like the victim’s age or profession, they feed the “her life is finished – this is worse than death” bullshit. (Does this make sense: Man, 35, beaten up by four people or is this closer to the same idea: Man, 35, murdered…see a pattern here?)

Here is what I think. If you are a reporter or writer, please use the active voice when you report rape and if you are that all-important person, the reader who reads/increases the hit-count to an article), please consider NOT clicking on regressive headlines and if possible boycott the paper that allows such biased reporting!

The life of the next victim depends on us not glorifying rape and being so passive.

Tilottama Shrinivasa is a mechanical engineer who is especially interested in mathematical modelling, structural analysis, biofuels, cats and dogs.

It is shocking how an article that leads-in with “grammar” can have so many grammatical errors. ( FYI – ‘perpetuator’ is not a word.)
I think the only point that made sense to me in this article was about the subtle references that ‘she was out late or was at a pub’. Is it wrong to do this? Absolutely. But does it sell more? (Sadly) Again…Absolutely. Unfortunately, for us Indians, the staying out late bit is what makes the whole thing less black-and-white and hence more debatable. (Disgusting, but true)
As for your other points… what a load of crap!
Nobody is “glorifying the act of rape” simply by writing a sentence in passive voice!
And you got women are weak from this…? – “Two women gang-raped in moving car in Gurgaon”
Lastly, I would recommend you read that quote from Morgan Freeman or Mark from Vancouver or whoever again.

Your entire post contradicts what Morgan Freeman said, so why would you post a reference to it? Making the sentence passive is not focusing on the person who did it, but rather the victim. Now, I haven’t reviewed your news sources, but one reason for the passive is that it is used when we are not sure of who committed the crime. Would you rather people are wrongly accused of a hideous crime than focus on the victim?

In spite of the occasional typo (perpetuator for perpetrator, e.g.) which are always a nuisance when one is writing about writing, this post makes a superbly important point about the use of the passive. First, it suggests that the receiver of the action (the victim) is not acting (i.e., has no agency) and removes any sense of abuse from the action. The passive, as you so rightly state, also removes any agent from the act. In the current legal climate, an alternate passive is often used (“5 men accused of rape”) which maintains the “innocent until proven guilty” principle while now shifting the responsibility to the unnamed accuser. I prefer your active version, with the “allegedly” correctly placed. Thank you for a thoughtful article.